At around 20:30 pm this Tuesday (26/01), the election of the new executive board of the Brazilian Association of Lesbians, Gays, Transvestites and Transsexuals (ABGLT) was held in Curitiba, which re-elected Toni Reis as its president.
The election that took place during the Pre-conference of ILGA – LAC (International Meeting of Gays and Lesbians – Latin America and the Caribbean, in Portuguese) and occurred without controversy, elected, in addition to its president, the other positions of the executive for the three-year period 2010 – 2013. They are: Lesbian Vice President, Yone Lindgreen; General Secretary, Irina Bacci; Trans vice-president, Keila Simpson and, for the Human Rights Secretariat, Tatiana Araújo.
In the interview below, Toni Reis, re-elected president, admits very frankly that the legislative issue is an issue that must be strengthened. However, he believes that his administration opened new doors for the national gay movement.
Regarding the presidential elections, Toni believes that all the pre-candidates do not represent a setback in sight, but with reservations about candidate Marina Silva (PV), as she has strong links with religious sectors. Check out the interview below
What to expect from your new mandate?
We have many things to do. With the first term I believe we opened many doors. But we need a law approved, and ABGLT is waiting for it; we need the Federal Supreme Court (STF) to rule on our rights and for the National Plan for Public Policies to come to fruition. If these two things happen, I will hand over the next term, as I can no longer run for office, with my soul cleansed.
What were you unable to accomplish in your first administration that you would like to do now?
The question of the legislature. We believed that it would be easy to approve PLC 122 (a bill that criminalizes homophobia throughout Brazil) and unfortunately we were unable to do so. We mobilized, but we did not have the strength to face religious fundamentalism.
You said that the current government "has its doors open." Do you believe that, if the next elected government is of a different line, this dialogue could change?
As a social movement we have to be multi-party. I am totally against partisanship of the movement. We have to have all party nuances: from the extreme left to the right that is not Nazi. We have to have a concession limit.
Do you think about calling on candidates for the presidency of the republic to publicly sign LGBT commitments?
For sure. This has already been discussed in the previous board and we will send letters to all presidential candidates to sign letters of commitment; Let's encourage LGBTs to run for office... We need to get out of the police news and into politics. But it's not enough to be LGBT and apply, the person has to have substance and history.
With the pre-candidates for president of the republic that we have, do you believe that there is any risk of a setback on gay issues?
From the profiles, I think we are doing well. In candidate Dilma I see the one who comes closest to President Lula's ideals and in his government we really had the doors wide open on the LGBT issue, so I see Dilma as a great candidate for us; I see, from the stances that Governor José Serra (PSDB-SP) had in his speeches at the parade – which I witnessed – and from his positions, he is certainly a person who will respect our rights; Marina Silva (PV-AC) never took a position in favor, but she never took a position against it and she has a left-wing tradition that we should support. The big issue is that it has a religious nature, so this dialogue (gay rights) can be difficult.
